| 28 June 2011
Someone asked me if there was anyway I could put together a list for the offensive line like I did for the defensive line. I have put some thought into it overnight. I have looked at more film. I just don't see it. Not unless the staff wants to try to do some poaching. With the defensive line there are still great looking kids out there who could be Buckeye caliber kids. Not so with the offensive line. Even with the next level of kids, the ones who are not a sure thing like Kalis, Dodson, McGowan, Decker and Tony Matteo, but ones who could be possibles. We are finding them committed. AJ Williams from Cincinnati Sycamore has been a high school tight end but is a kid who will likely be a tackle in time. I have a report that he will play tackle his senior year. He is committed to Michigan. Zack Higgins was a player the Buckeyes were looking at. He is committed to Michigan State. Caleb Stacey is a guard I am very high on. Committed to Michigan. There weren't as many elites in the offensive line class as there was with the defensive line and there were not that many maybes. The maybes have already made decisions. I would not project any players in Ohio who are not already committed to some school to be players the Buckeyes might take a look at, with the exception of the de-committed Kyle Kalis and the uncommitted Tony Matteo. Bill Kurelic is confident that the Buckeyes have
targeted a class of four on the offensive line. There is only one committed, Jacoby Boren. The buzz about him is he is more likely to follow in the footsteps of his brother Zack than his brother Justin. He is not looking any bigger now that he is out and about in warm weather clothing according the sources who have seen him. We need a fullback anyway so it does not matter in the overall picture.
What to do about it. That is all that is important. The most important thing is to stay on Kalis. He was an early verbal to Ohio State. Lets not forget that early verbals are the ones who most want to be a part of a program. He made no bones about why he de-committed. It is about the coaching situation. I know there are rumors that he is a silent verbal to Michigan. I have not heard anything to back that up. There are other rumors that he was not impressed with Michigan. Stay on him. Tell him that he could call any school on signing day and they would accept his LOI. That is actually the truth. You liked Ohio State so much that you have actually committed to the Buckeyes twice. Wait and see who the head coach is. You will not have to wait until signing day. This will be over sooner than that. You will have time to even take other visits if you want to. No sooner than Kalis de-committed. Florida and LSU offered. Encourage him to give himself a Christmas present. Go to Florida in December or January, kid. The coaching situation will work itself out. You are not in a hurry.
The next thing to do is look national. I know that goes against the grain. When in trouble come back home. The thing is there are a couple of exceptions that should be explored. At camp we saw a lineman from Colorado named Alex Kozan. He has offers from the likes of Iowa, Wisconsin, LSU, Oregon, Oklahoma St, Arkansas, Arizona, amongst others. He is a Buckeye fan. He is a Rivals national top 250 player. He was MVP at the Buckeye camp. He was born in Cincinnati and has family in Columbus. He says an Ohio State offer changes the game. His film is very impressive. A player of this caliber wanting to be a Buckeye is manna from Heaven. I have no idea why there is no offer going out to him yet.
Nick Davidson is a Buckeye legacy player. He is the son of former Buckeye Jeff Davidson who is now the Minnesota Vikings offensive line coach. He is 6-7. He plays left tackle in high school. The first look I got of him was not that impressive but it was only three plays. I have gotten a longer and better look at him since. Jim Tressel accumulated legacy players. Some not really Buckeye caliber. i am very surprised that this Buckeye caliber legacy player does not already have an offer. He does have offers from all the top programs in his former home region which was the Atlantic coast, Clemson, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia Tech. Since he has moved north to Minnesota he has been offered by Iowa and Michigan.
A class that includes Kalis, Davidson and Kozan would be a great save to this class and it is definitely in the realm of possibilities. A couple of offers would go a long way to making that happen. Stay tuned.
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I want to mention Cleveland Rhodes athlete LaKeith Walls, a player I discussed in my defensive line post. Since I wrote that I have learned that Walls is putting up some speed numbers that should get the Big five involved. He ran a best of 10.6 in the 100 meters and ran 22.56 for the 200. That is fast by any standard let alone for a kid his size.
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